Julián Leal

Ómar Julián Leal Covelli
Nationality	Colombian
Born	May 11, 1990 (1990-05-11) (age 21) Bucaramanga (Colombia)
2011 GP2 Series
Debut season	2011
Current team	Rapax
Car no.	2
Starts	18
Wins	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	1
Best finish	27th in 2011
Previous series
2011 2009–2010 2007–08 2007–08 2006–07	GP2 Asia Series Formula Renault 3.5 Series Italian Formula 3000 Euroseries 3000 FR2.0 PanamGP
Championship titles
2008	Italian Formula 3000

Ómar Julián Leal Covelli, commonly known as Julián Leal, (born May 11, 1990 in Bucaramanga) is a professional racing driver from Colombia, although he has also competed with an Italian licence in the GP2 Series.

Career

Formula Renault 2.0

Leal began his racing career in 2006 in the Formula Renault 2.0 PanamGP series, scoring two podium finishes in seven races to finish ninth in the standings. He also took part in two races of the series the following year.

Euroseries 3000

The following season, Leal moved to Europe to compete in the Euroseries 3000 championship. Driving for the Italian Durango team, he finished ninth in the Euroseries standings and eleventh in the Italian Formula 3000 championship, which ran as part of the main series.

He continued in the championship in 2008, finishing sixth in the Euroseries after securing four podium places in fifteen races.^[1] In September of that year, he won the Italian Formula 3000 championship at Misano, beating both Fabio Onidi and Nicolas Prost to the title by a single point.^[2]

Formula Renault 3.5 Series

At the end of 2008, Leal took part in Formula Renault 3.5 Series testing at Paul Ricard and Valencia, driving for both Draco Racing and Prema Powerteam. In December 2008, it was announced that Leal had signed with Prema Powerteam for the 2009 season.^[3] He had a testing first season in the category, with a podium at the Hungaroring being his only points–scoring finish, as he wound up 20th in the standings.

In the off–season, Leal tested for both Prema and Mofaz Racing at the Circuit de Catalunya and in December 2009, it was announced that he would drive for Draco Racing in the 2010 season, partnering Formula Renault graduate Nathanaël Berthon.^[4] He again finished the season in 20th position after struggling to match his rookie team–mate, with his best race result being a fourth place at the first race in Brno.^[5]

Auto GP

In March 2010, it was announced that Leal would also compete in the new Auto GP championship, competing for the Italian team Trident Racing.^[6] He finished seventh in the final standings, with the highlight of his season coming at the penultimate round at the brand–new Circuito de Navarra, where he won the first race after starting from pole position.^[7]

GP2 Series

Leal driving for Rapax at the Monza round of the 2011 GP2 Series season.

In November 2010, Leal tested a GP2 Series car for the first time, taking part in the post–season test at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, and in January 2011 it was announced that he had signed with the Rapax Team to contest the GP2 Asia Series season, lining–up alongside Fabio Leimer.^[8] He had initially signed to contest only the Asia series, but in March 2011 it was confirmed that he would stay with the team for the main 2011 championship, in which he finished 27th.^[9]

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2006	Formula Renault 2.0 PanamGP	Penix Unico	7	0	0	0	2	72	9th
2007	Formula Renault 2.0 PanamGP	?	2	0	0	0	0	16	17th
	Euroseries 3000	Durango	16	0	0	0	0	13	9th
	Italian Formula 3000		8	0	0	0	0	8	11th
2008	Euroseries 3000	Durango	15	0	1	0	4	38	6th
	Italian Formula 3000		8	0	1	0	4	35	1st
2009	Formula Renault 3.5 Series	Prema Powerteam	17	0	0	0	1	11	20th
2010	Formula Renault 3.5 Series	International DracoRacing	17	0	0	0	0	11	20th
	Auto GP	Trident Racing	12	1	1	1	1	21	9th
2011	GP2 Asia Series	Rapax	4	0	0	0	0	0	26th
	GP2 Series	Rapax	18	0	0	0	0	0	27th

Complete GP2 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	DC	Points
2011	Rapax	TUR FEA 19	TUR SPR Ret	ESP FEA 17	ESP SPR 14	MON FEA Ret	MON SPR Ret	VAL FEA 11	VAL SPR 9	GBR FEA 22	GBR SPR 21	GER FEA 14	GER SPR 9	HUN FEA 20	HUN SPR Ret	BEL FEA Ret	BEL SPR Ret	ITA FEA 16	ITA SPR Ret	27th	0

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	DC	Points
2011	Rapax	ABU FEA Ret	ABU SPR 17	ITA FEA 17	ITA SPR 18	26th	0

References

1. ^ "Euroseries 3000 2008". driverdb.com (Driver Database). http://www.driverdb.com/standings/298-2008/. Retrieved 8 December 2009. 
2. ^ "Formula 3000 Italy 2008". driverdb.com (Driver Database). http://www.driverdb.com/standings/28-2008/. Retrieved 15 March 2011. 
3. ^ Mills, Peter (5 December 2008). "Prema sign Colombian Leal for 2009". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72352. Retrieved 15 December 2008. 
4. ^ "Leal completes Draco line-up". crash.net (Crash Media Group). 7 December 2009. http://www.crash.net/renault+ws/news/155174/1/leal_completes_draco_line-up.html. Retrieved 8 December 2009. 
5. ^ "World Series by Renault 2010". driverdb.com (Driver Database). http://www.driverdb.com/standings/68-2010/. Retrieved 15 March 2011. 
6. ^ "Julian Leal and Trident together in Auto GP". autogp.org (Auto GP). 18 March 2010. http://www.autogp.org/en/news.php?id=0062. Retrieved 21 April 2010. 
7. ^ "Navarra, Race 1: first Auto GP win for Leal". autogp.org (Auto GP). 25 September 2010. http://www.autogp.org/en/news.php?id=0227. Retrieved 15 March 2011. 
8. ^ "Julian Leal completes Rapax GP2 Asia line–up". crash.net (Crash Media Group). 29 January 2011. http://www.crash.net/gp2/news/166211/1/julian_leal_completes_rapax_gp2_asia_line-up.html. Retrieved 15 March 2011. 
9. ^ Beer, Matt (11 March 2011). "Leal to complete season with Rapax". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89867. Retrieved 15 March 2011. 

External links

• Official website (Spanish)
• Career details from Driver Database

Sporting positions
Preceded by Davide Rigon	Italian F3000 champion 2008	Succeeded by Will Bratt

Persondata
Name	Leal, Julián
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 11, 1990
Place of birth	Bucaramanga (Colombia)
Date of death
Place of death